Experts call for dispute system reform
As Canada grapples with a severe rental housing shortage, experts said reforming the country's broken landlord-tenant dispute resolution mechanisms could unlock thousands of new units and improve affordability.
Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is under scrutiny for its inability to provide timely resolutions to disputes, the Financial Post reported.
A report by the provincial ombudsman revealed the severe backlog and inefficiencies plaguing the LTB. The number of pending cases has skyrocketed from 20,000 in 2020 to 53,000 by March 2023.
According to Toronto-based researcher Tahmeed Shafiq, it currently takes an average of 342 days to resolve an eviction case for non-payment. This delay has significant repercussions for landlords.
The ombudsman's report from last year indicated that as of March 2023, landlords had to wait up to nine months to schedule a hearing, while tenants might wait as long as two years. The delays and inefficiencies disproportionately affect landlords, who filed 84% of the complaints in 2021, compared to just 12% filed by tenants.
One tragic case highlighted by the ombudsman involved a landlord who has cancer and lived in her basement and rented out the upper portion of her home. She filed an application in December 202, seeking to evict her tenants to use the space for her treatment.
Due to an error in her initial submission, she was asked to refile her application months later. Unfortunately, she passed away before her case could be resolved.
A shortage of adjudicators exacerbates the LTB's backlog. Before the ombudsman’s investigation, there were 40 full-time and 10 part-time adjudicators. By January 2023, the number of full-time adjudicators had decreased to 35, with part-time staff increasing to 43. This staffing level is insufficient to handle the growing caseload.
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The ombudsman also criticized the cumbersome appointment process for adjudicators, which involves 122 distinct steps and can take three to five months for government approval. When adjudicators are replaced, ongoing cases often have to be restarted from scratch, causing further delays.
British Columbia’s Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) manages disputes much more efficiently.
The RTB schedules expedited hearings within 12 days and can address urgent matters within six days. Although British Columbia's system also faced increased workload and longer wait times, disputes are typically resolved within weeks or months rather than the years often seen in Ontario.
In February 2020, the RTB resolved regular disputes within five weeks, though by September 2022, this had extended to nearly 15 weeks due to increased complaints. Despite these delays, the RTB's performance is far ahead of Ontario’s LTB.
Addressing the inefficiencies of the LTB could provide significant relief to landlords and improve housing affordability.
Many homeowners in Ontario, and potentially across Canada, are hesitant to rent out unused space because they fear being stuck with non-paying tenants for prolonged periods.
A streamlined and effective dispute resolution system could encourage these homeowners to offer their surplus space as rental units, helping to alleviate the housing shortage.
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